That sound you don’t hear is Zephyr’s new Next Generation Europa line of range hoods.

Napoli Island

The reason you hear hardly a thing isn’t because the hood is so loud it drowns out your smoke alarm when you set the bacon on fire (come on, it’s happened to all of us, right?). No, it’s because these range hoods are equipped with Zephyr’s DCBL™ Suppression technology.

What’s that you ask? Well, let’s take a look under the hood, shall we?

Whether you think the traditional newspaper is on its deathbed or not, there are still thousands of editions being printed daily. All that single use newsprint adds up to a tremendous amount of paper to be recycled. Although many uses have been found for old newspaper, this has to be one of the more attractive…

NewspaperWood was developed by Dutch design label Vij5 as a way to create a wood like construction material out of waste paper. By rolling the paper up into “logs”, rendering them solid with binders, then slicing through them, a new material with a wood like grain is achieved.

Simple, yet elegant. Love it!

The resulting material can be used to construct furniture, such as this industrial style cabinet.

Floating above your head like a rustic flying saucer, the Aura lamp is a beautiful marriage between one of the oldest of handcrafts and the latest in lighting technology. Created by two young French designers, Océane Delain and Béatrice Durandard, who met during an internship at Ikea in Sweden, it immediately attracted notice and garnered them an award and seed money to start the production process.

The lamps are now being created by hand in Northern France. Here you can see the LED strips being woven into the design.

I am so looking forward to this weekend! Why you ask? Because this is where I am going to be on Saturday…

I’m absolutely giddy about it, which I’m sure leaves some of you wondering about my sanity. For those of you who share in my enthusiasm for all things “woady” I promise will give you all a full report next week.

And don’t forget! We are giving away a great Adesso Reach LED desk lamp this week! You have until Saturday at midnight to enter.

Meanwhile, here are some of the things that caught my eye this week:

1. This tutorial for recycling porch light fixtures into terrariums is so brilliant. I’m definitely adding this to my list of things to incorporate into my new office space. (design*sponge)

3. We are all so used to the idea of flatpack furniture, what with IKEA and all, but when designer Kem Weber pioneered the idea with his Airline Chair, people thought it was weird and he only managed to sell about 200 of them. Man, what I wouldn’t do to own one of those amazing chairs. (Boing Boing)

4. And speaking of IKEA, they recently made a pledge to transition to 100% “better cotton”. It looks to be a step in the right direction, but is it really enough? (Inhabitat)

5. I’ve always liked cheery yellow in a traditional kitchen, but never figured it would look right in a modern one. Here is a super sleek, modern kitchen with bright glossy yellow cabinets, and I have to admit, it looks great! (Trendir)

6. Wood is becoming an increasingly popular element in many interiors. This lovely home takes that idea to the nth degree. (2Modern blog)

7. And now I’ll leave you with two fascinating videos. The first is an interview with a woman who lives in a 90 sf “apartment” in New York. She’s managed to make it quite livable, although I could never sleep in a bed like that!

The second video I’ve included just because it’s so darn peaceful, even if it is a commercial.

I love it when a company approaches me and says that, not only do they want me to write about their product, but they believe in it so much they want to send me one to review.

That’s what Adesso did recently with their new Reach LED desk lamp. And you know what? I’m glad they did, because this lamp is kinda sweet!

One of the first things I noticed about the Reach desk lamp when I took it out of the box was the weight. While not overly heavy, the lamp has a nice solid feel. There is nothing flimsy about it. Once I unwrapped it from its packaging material, and started to play with the positioning, I could feel the smooth movements of all the joints, and I got a little silly seeing how contorted I could make it. Hey, some people play with their food, I play with my lighting. What can I say.

Of course the most important feature in any desk lamp is the light quality itself, and here’s where the Reach really goes all out. Using a 7.2 W LED, covered by a magnifier shield, this lamp emits a really nice, wide beam of bright light. By rotating the shade arm, it’s possible to cast the light anywhere from the top of the desk, to the ceiling above, meaning this lamp can be used for task or ambient light. I love the flexibility that gives it – both literally and figuratively.

Adesso’s Chairman Lee Schaak (a.k.a. “The Lamp Dude”) says, “These lamps give people the brightness they need with the energy efficiency they want.” And efficient they are, using less than a third of the electricity needed for a comparable fluorescent fixture. Another benefit is that they’re cool to the touch, meaning they are much safer and more comfortable to be around, especially compared to those halogen task lamps you see everywhere.

All in all, I’m really impressed with the quality, style, and usability of this lamp. Can’t wait to see what LED lighting Adesso comes up with next. They are certainly off to a great start!

Giveaway!!!

So I’m really pleased to say, that thanks to the folks at Adesso, not only am I writing to tell you about this great lamp but I actually have one to give away (in the steel color above) to a lucky reader in the U.S.! All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me where you plan to use it. Would it be for the workplace, your home office, for a reading lamp, or some other kind of task? You can post your comment anytime before midnight Saturday, April 9th, for a chance to enter. Randomly chosen winner to be announced next Monday. Good luck everyone!

Well, it’s been a wonderful week here at The interioREvolution, in no small part because it was my birthday yesterday! My husband took me out for a lovely dinner and then to a play set in an Irish pub, and what could be a better way to spend a St. Patrick’s Day birthday than that?

Meanwhile, as usual there is plenty of fascinating stuff going on in sustainable design that I thought you might be interested in. Here’s what I’ve been reading about this week:

1. The process of dying silk fabric uses an awful lot of water. What if you could dye the silk before it is even spun by the silkworm? That’s what researchers are working on right now, by feeding fluorescent dye to silkworms. (Treehugger)

2. One of the biggest obstacles to using LED lighting is the initial cost. New research may be able to lower that cost by 75%, making LEDs comparable in cost to the much more popular CFL and incandescent bulbs. (Treehugger)

3. A big factor to consider in creating a sustainable product is the efficient use of material. This hardwood flooring company reduces waste by using a computerized analysis to calculate the curves and irregularities of uncut logs in order to create flooring using no straight lines. The curved edges of the pieces fit together like a puzzle. (Boing Boing)

7. In this interview, furniture designer Leon Wong discusses why he encourages people to buy modern wood furniture for Earth Day. (Maneuvering Life With Style)

8. I thought I would close with this video interview with Architecture for Humanity founder Cameron Sinclair talking about how they are already helping Japan rebuild. If there is anybody who can inspire architects and designers to go out and save the world, it’s him. (seen on Inhabitat)

The other day I received a flameless candle sample from Enjoy Lighting in the mail. It was not something I asked for – sometimes I get unsolicited samples to try out – but I’m not sorry I got it. This “real” wax candle got me to thinking about the sustainability of LEDs as a substitute for the traditional flame.

If you haven’t seen a flameless candle before, essentially you have a paraffin wax pillar, just like you would have with a regular candle, but instead of a wick that you light, you have small LED bulbs and a switch at the bottom to turn them on with. This particular candle sample I received has three LED bulbs that are set to flicker randomly and independently, giving them the appearance of an actual flame. It also includes a timer feature, where the candle can be set to turn on at the same time every day for between 4 to 8 hours. If you want to splurge a little more, you can even get the version with a remote control, for those hard to reach locations.

A month or so ago, I wrote a post about the amazing lighting fixtures of Tanya Clarke. Using old faucets, LEDs, and blown glass drops, she creates fixtures with the appearance of liquid light. I marveled at the beauty of her idea.

Now two other designers have added some fresh coats of “paint” to the concept.

I realize I might be stretching things a bit to include tree planting robots on an interior design blog, but, they’re so eco-friendly and CUTE! And besides, isn’t it better than the usual apocalyptic robot future we usually see? (Yanko Design)

And, since I ran out of time last Friday to do a Wrap-up, here are a couple of good articles from last week that you might find interesting -

Is this the best use of 500 SF in New York City? Possibly anywhere? (Treehugger)

And what is our devotion to cheap, easily broken stuff really doing to us? How did we go from a toaster that could last 50 years, to one that only costs $5 (and lasts about as long as it takes you to get it home).

I’ll be working on a Habitat for Humanity build tomorrow, and then collapsing in a heap Sunday. How about you? What kinds of fun things do you have planned now that Summer is winding down?

Sustainable Design

The interioRevolution is a design blog devoted exclusively to sustainable interior design. Through product reviews, guest blogs by experts in their fields, special features and spirited discussion, the interioRevolution provides new knowledge and expands the dialogue on sustainable interior design.

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The interioRevolution is a design blog devoted exclusively to sustainable interior design. Through product reviews, guest blogs by experts in their fields, special features and spirited discussion, the interioRevolution provides new knowledge and expands the dialogue on sustainable interior design.